“This is the ideal time for Savannah to have a food and wine festival,” said Michael Owens, president and CEO of the Tourism Leadership Council, better known as the TLC. “We are getting to be known nationally, and we need to take advantage of that. The idea is to produce the premier food and wine festival in the Southeast.”

Festival dinners and wine tastings will be held in restaurants around the city, as well as in the downtown streets. The main event, Taste of Savannah, will be based in Ellis Square and will feature food and wine booths, music, chef cooking demonstrations and competitions for bartenders and wait staff.

Another festival event, the River Street Wine Stroll, will be held on the waterfront.

The event will also include many family-friendly features, “and we’re not talking about just throwing up a bounce house either,” Owens said.

The goal, he said, is to create “something fun” that goes beyond wine tasting and food sampling.

The TLC hired the creator of the Taste of Marietta and the current head of the Hilton Head Wine & Food Festival, Jan Gourley, as festival director. She envisions the Savannah Food & Wine Festival becoming a “destination event” for foodies.

“We’re going to get the word out to near-drive markets like Atlanta,” she said. “Hopefully, we can get some Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon participants to extend their stay.”

The festival begins two days after the marathon and comes at the start of Savannah’s winter tourism slowdown.

The festival “falls into a perfect spot on our tourism calendar,” said Joe Marinelli with Visit Savannah, the local destination marketing organization.

“Over the last few years, we’ve elevated our efforts to market Savannah as an emerging foodie destination,” Marinelli said. “With so many fine established go-to restaurants and the recent influx of a number of dynamic young chefs, Savannah’s popularity for culinary tourism continues to grow.”

The TLC has yet to announce the celebrity chefs for the event, although Gourley and Owens acknowledged they will include individuals known nationally and regionally. The festival kickoff is a James Beard Foundation Celebrity Chef Tour event.

The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit that celebrates, nurtures and honors America’s diverse culinary heritage. The group’s hallmark event is an awards ceremony honoring America’s best chefs. Past winners include Lagasse, Bobby Flay and Mario Batali.

Mondavi will be the event’s featured winemaker and will host a tasting and silent auction during the festival. The grandson of Robert Mondavi, founder of Robert Mondavi Winery and the man credited with putting Napa Valley on the wine map, Rob Mondavi Jr., currently operates a winery he founded with his father in 2004, the Michael Mondavi Family Estate.

“Savannah is one of the most charming cities with a deep history, Lowcountry cuisine and gentle people. My family and I are excited to bring our little part of Napa Valley to this great town, especially in its inaugural year,” Mondavi said.

Mondavi visited Savannah last week to finalize his commitment to the Savannah event. His presence is expected to attract several more high-profile winemakers, the TLC’s Owens said.

IF YOU GO

What: Savannah Food & Wine Festival.

When: Nov. 11-17.

Information: Tickets go on sale July 1 through the website savannahfoodandwinefest.com.